Life is Like a Game of Chess

2) Have some non negotiables about what’s important in your world (like protecting your own King). Understand that achieving point 1 is impossible if you sacrifice point 2

3) Know that sacrifices must be made – the person you are today (with 16 fully functioning pieces) is not the person you will be when you achieve your goals

4) Be prepared to make choices. Every choice you make will create some issues – don’t regret that choice or think the other choice would have been better. The other choice would have had its own issues – different, but present. Focus on the way forward, not re-living past decisions

5) Always be thinking ahead AND don’t lose sight of the present board. You need to be doing both. If you’re playing one move at a time, you’ll almost certainly end up in a tough position

6) It’s not a one player game. Things will happen that you will need to respond to. Give yourself the time to respond

7) Learn how to see the bigger picture. Beginner chess players see every piece separately; Grandmasters see chunks of the board as patterns. The human brain can only hold 7 (=/- 2) items at a time – seeing the bigger picture groups items, so they becoming a single data source. This takes practice.

8) And once you have a plan, make the deliberate steps you need to do to get there. You’re the only person playing your life. No-one else will make the moves for you

Lastly, life is like a metaphor. It can be inspiring, but it has a lot of imperfections.